Chapter 13

The rest of the Week Proceeded in a flurry of socializing, training, and studying. I mostly kept up my training on Occlumency, Leglimency, and the Dead Moment on my own, but also added training in Psychometry in preparation for Sunday's attempt to figure out whatever Daphne wanted me to use my Mind Arts on. By the end of the week, I had gotten more incremental improvement on the first three. It wasn't much, but it was something, and honestly, that was more than most adult Wizards could claim.

As for Psychometry, I could use it to get visions of up to three important events in the History of an item, view backward or forward in the item's timeline by up to three days, or get visions of up to three of the item's owners. Of course, it all obviously could be fooled by wards and protections. I didn't have the power to punch through such things yet, nor did I have the time to train in order to do so. Mind you, a lot of my time was spent with Magnus Gamp in private lessons.

Having completed the First-Year Charms Curriculum, Magnus Gamp decided to inform me that I would be missing Potions Club this week to finish off my Potions Curriculum and get both to a practical level that wasn't, 'piss poor and liable to get you and everyone you love killed', as he put it. In terms of Potions, that effectively meant teaching me to brew the Pompion and Strength Potions, while also going through the academic work on the Ingredients. It all took place over the course of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as my weekend was effectively commandeered by Magnus Gamp outside mealtimes and evenings.

Apparently, my Charms and Potions Work by the end of the week was considered Acceptable for a First-Year, by Magnus Gamp. I suspected that for any other teacher, it would be considered much, much, better than acceptable, but I had been warned that my Tutor was demanding. That also meant we were switching over to Defense for the foreseeable future, as Magnus Gamp found the standards for the Defense Curriculum sorely lacking. It made sense, Charms, and Potions were where the bulk of my talents lay, while I was only mildly talented in Defense.

It also meant that Magnus Gamp would be taking the time to give me practical experience in combat situations, which effectively meant mock duels between him and I. For obvious reasons, this was far more harrowing than I'd prepared for, as Magnus Gamp was an experienced Wizard, an accomplished Auror, and an exacting tutor.

It was how I found myself flat on my back Sunday afternoon, watching the clouds from the cordoned-off section of the Training Grounds that Magnus Gamp had commandeered. I was breathing heavily as the bearded, sunglasses-wearing, face of Magnus Gamp loomed over me from above.

"What was your first mistake?" He demanded.

"I tried to use my boosted Incendio as a Shield Breaker." I answered immediately.

I had attempted that, as it was boosted by the Ritual of Selene's Inner Flame to be able to act as one in a pinch, expecting the translucent blue bubble that Magnus Gamp had put up to be a normal shield charm, even if it had been cast wordlessly. I was wrong, it was a transfiguration, using the moisture in the air to conjure a deflecting skin of water. My Incendio had hit his water shield and made a bunch of steam, shrouding the area in steam and forcing me to dodge immediately to avoid being hit by my last known location.

I managed it, barely, as I'd dove out of the way of a series of stunners using the dead moment. Unfortunately, I hadn't seen the transfigured mud patch that tripped me up, resulting in a leg locker curse that kept me on the ground after I fell.

"Wrong. Your first mistake was assuming that your opponent was using charms and defensive spellwork instead of getting creative with battlefield transfiguration. Your second mistake was using that overpowered Incindio. What was your final mistake?" Pressed Magnus Gamp.

"Not paying attention to my other senses. I should have been paying attention to how the ground felt and listening to the lack of spells being cast." I sighed.

"Correct. Most people can't cast wordlessly outside of transfiguration. If they aren't incanting anything, odds are they're trying a battlefield transfiguration. Awareness of your surroundings is key, too. Situational Awareness can be the difference between coming back from a fight alive or having you and all your mates put into an early grave by an ambush." Nodded Magnus Gamp.

Then he pressed a bottle of something into my hand with instructions to drink it down. I did so and found a sense of energy rushing through my body and my magic. An invigoration draught, most likely. Of course, then we started dueling again and I found myself losing more of these spars. However, I lasted just a little longer each time, which was progress, I suppose.

Mind you, apparently, Magnus Gamp was keeping his spellwork to things that a Wizard could cast within two years of me. If he really decided to take me seriously, he'd blow me out of the water right from the jump and I'd never see any progress. Fortunately, though he was a strict tutor, he was a damned good one, too. He wouldn't do that to me because it defeated the point of the training.

We ran another half-dozen mock duels before taking a break to polish off the last of the First-Year potions curriculum ingredient lectures. By the time he let me go after another Invigoration Draught and a touch of Wiggenweld Potion to soothe any aches and scrapes, I'd effectively gotten in all of First-Year Charms and Potions. Defense remained, but once I'd done that, it would be onto extracurricular studies and mastering the charms I'd been taught.

That only applied to Charms, Potions, and Defense, of course. I still had regular classes in Herbology, Astronomy, Transfiguration, and History of Magic. I slept through History of Magic, but Herbology, Astronomy, and Transfiguration were actually interesting and taught by people who weren't ghosts re-hashing century-old lesson plans out of some form of spectral inertia. Nor were the lessons as completely and utterly unengaging.

Herbology with Hufflepuffs saw me working with Susan once again, this time repotting Bouncing Bulbs as an infestation of Gnomes in one of Professor Sprout's supplemental greenhouses had made a number of immature Bouncing Bulbs temporarily homeless. Professor Sprout, never one to waste an opportunity for hard work to be turned into a lesson, had us First Years repot them as she went over various facts about them.

Susan and I managed to get our own allotment of Bouncing Bulbs repotted in no time, only for Ernie MacMillan and another Hufflepuff whose name I think was Justin to be set on by a quartet of their own Bouncing Bulbs after a 'prank' from Theo Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, and Draco Malfoy resulted in them dropping their twin armfuls of pots. Fortunately, Immature Bulbs like these can be stunned temporarily with a Knockback Jinx and repotted while they're out of it.

Susan and I came to the rescue, casting Flipendo on a pair of Bulbs that began bouncing menacingly towards the other two Hufflepuffs' sides while they were dealing with the other two Bulbs. Our Jinxes smashed into the sides of the Bouncing Bulbs, in my case, literally knocking a Bulb out of the air mid-bounce to land in the dirt, stunned. As Susan and I moved in to repot those two while Ernie and Justin handled theirs, Professor Sprout spoke up.

"Well done Dears! Truly a credit to cross-house friendships, both of you. Take ten points each to Slytherin and Hufflepuff for such a grand display of cooperation!" Called out Professor Sprout.

Unfortunately, it seemed like she hadn't seen Draco's little group enacting their 'prank'. It was no wonder, though, she had been demonstrating something to Hannah and Daphne when they'd cast the stinging spells that had caused Justin and Ernie to drop their armfuls of pots, after all. Unfortunately, as I hadn't been friends with either Ernie or Justin before this, neither were covered by the Non-Aggression Pledge I had from Malfoy and his group for the year.

Astronomy that night was similar to how Herbology played out. We learned about Polaris, the North Star, how to find it, and the specifics of the Ritual of Leiðarstjarna, which allowed the user to be imbued with a perfect sense of direction while cast under the light of Polaris. It had apparently been used by Old Norse Wizards who used it when navigating ships to new lands to both raid and settle and is apparently, one of the reasons why the remnants of Norse Settlements can be found stretching from the Black Sea Coast to Eastern Canada.

It required a number of components, mirrors placed in a specific Numerological Pattern to reflect the light of the star onto a Gemstone of no less than one hundred Galleons of value, traditionally this would be a clear stone such as a sunstone or diamond. The gem would absorb the reflected light and then be placed in a tankard or cup filled with a mixture of the intended recipient's blood and a tea made of Aspen Sap. The tea would be drunk and the imbiber would gain a Perfect Sense of Direction permanently, though the Gemstone used would then turn to dust, consumed by the ritual.

It was as we were looking through our telescopes to attempt to find Polaris that Malfoy struck again, fogging up the lenses of several telescopes of various Gryffindors with a very basic transfiguration meant for pranking people who were doing just this sort of thing. It caused a confrontation to erupt between Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle on one side, and Harry Potter and Ron Weasley on the other.

"Oi! Malfoy, knock it off!" Snapped Ron as Malfoy hit a Blonde Gryffindor Girl's telescope with the Lens-fogging Transfiguration.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, Weasley. Perhaps you'd care to elaborate?" Sneered Malfoy.

"Come off it, Malfoy! You've been screwing with the lenses of everyone's telescopes for a bit now! First Neville, then Seamus, and now Lavender!" Accused Harry.

"And how would I be doing that? I've not said a single incantation." Pointed out Malfoy.

"I don't know, but your dad must've paid for all sorts of tutors! You probably figured out how to cast wandlessly just to mess with blokes trying to learn!" Accused Ron.

"That's a very serious accusation, Weasley. Some might consider it worth dueling over." Intoned Malfoy.

"Oh, piss off, Malfoy! You could have just as easily been using transfiguration!" Groused Harry.

"I suppose if you feel unsatisfied, then perhaps you'd care to duel me? Surely the famous Harry Potter isn't afraid of a duel?" Challenged Malfoy.

Before either Harry or Ron could speak up, however, Professor Sinistra stepped in to break up the brewing fight. She deducted five points each from Gryffindor and Slytherin before sending everyone back to their telescopes and getting the class back on track. For my part, I was confident enough in my ability to find Polaris, since I could do that easy enough back in my old, Pre-Blaise, life. Instead, I decided that I was going to bring up the topic of reserving the Slytherin Ritual Chamber once more for the Ritual of Leiðarstjarna, but I'd bring it up at the first meeting of the Cross-House Study Group.

Transfiguration with Gryffindor was a lot easier than either of the other two classes, as Professor McGonagall was a no-nonsense sort of teacher who wouldn't allow Malfoy and his group to get away with any 'pranks' on her watch. She entered the class, striding to the blackboard with purpose before writing down the word 'avifors' and turning around.

"Good morning, Class. Today we will be studying the Avifors Spell. It has a long and interesting history, dating back to Roman Times. Can anyone tell me who invented it?" Questioned Professor McGonagall as she eyed us all.

I immediately knew who it was. It had been an Ancestor of Blaise's, one of the Claudii back in the days of the Roman Republic was a Priest of Juno who invented the spell as a way to cut down on the expense of importing rare peacocks for auguries at the temple. Marcus Claudius Pavo only found out that Avifors Birds made for a low-quality Augury substitute when one of his predictions he used them for didn't work out the same way the Augury predicted, being just off enough to cause the client to complain.

The thing that saved him from being demoted from Chief Priest of Juno was that the Client was his cousin, Appius Claudius Caecus, who had asked for an Augury to foretell the future of his great project, the construction of the famous Appian Way. The Off-prediction is the reason the Appian Way goes over the Pontine Marshes rather than around them.

Knowing this, I, of course, raised my hand and was called on to give my answer. Professor McGonagall nodded as I relayed the extra information.

"Indeed. Ten points to Slytherin for such a thorough answer with extra context." Awarded McGonagall.

She went into a brief lecture on the spell and its applications, from having a short-ranged messenger bird on demand to serving as a sudden distraction in a duel, to everything in between. Once that was done, Professor McGonagall set us to begin working on changing a wooden cup into a dove using the Avifors Spell.

Once again, I found myself using my imagination to go through the process of Transfiguration in my mind and then manifesting it into reality using my wand and willpower. Once again, it took a few tries for me to really get it down. My first try only succeeded in making a wooden dove, while my second try only partially worked, making some half-wood, half-bird monstrosity that I put out of its misery with an immediate Finite Incantatem. The third time was the Charm, it seemed, though and I finally managed to create a fully-living Dove, though I had to get a bit more granular than I'd have liked in my imagination to do so.

I was the first to get it, which awarded me five points from Professor McGonagall, though Parvati Patil wasn't too far behind, getting the spell to work for her almost before Professor McGonagall was finished awarding me points. I moved on to helping Millie out while Tracey helped Daphne. She got it after four tries with my help, leaving me just enough time to help out Neville, who got it after six tries now that I was helping him. That netted me another five points for helping out other students.

By the time the week was over, I felt very good about where I was magically. So of course Sunday Evening would have another Omen of Doom for me as I did what I said I was going to do with Daphne and use the Mind Arts to figure out what she wanted.

Wasn't that always just the way things went?

XXXX

I was tired, but it was a good tired, as I stumbled back into the Slytherin Common Room Sunday Evening after dinner, only to be set upon by Daphne, though she was alone with no Tracey in sight. I thought that was odd, but if this was as personal as Daphne was making it out to be, maybe Tracey was giving her some space.

"You promised you would help me out this evening." Reminded Daphne.

"I know. I didn't forget." I placated.

"Good. Come with me." Demanded Daphne.

I followed Daphne into her Dorm Room. This was the first time I'd been allowed in here, so I took a quick look around. There was a plushie of a Niffler sitting neatly propped up on her bed while her Bookshelf had a number of volumes of suspect quality, including the first three of Gilderoy Lockhart's Published, Plagiarized, Travelogues, Gadding with Ghouls, Holidays with Hags, and Travels With Trolls. I frowned as I saw those on her bookshelf.

"I didn't realize that you were a Gilderoy Lockhart fan." I frowned.

"What, you were expecting me to read that drivel that the Kensington Press puts out about Harry Potter going around slaying Dragons and rescuing Witches? We've both met Potter by now, yes? I'd prefer my stories to have an element of truth behind them, thank you." Sniffed Daphne, as she continued rummaging around in her trunk for whatever it was she was looking for.

I frowned, refraining from spilling Lockhart's secret to Daphne. Honestly, I wasn't certain if I could tell her even if I wanted to. The Meta-Lock option I checked off on the Online Questionnaire that started this whole thing would prevent me from doing that unless I had a plausible way to dance around the subject. Unfortunately, at the moment, I had no such path open to me.

Eventually, however, Daphne must have found what she was looking for because she closed her trunk, locked it, and made her way back over to me. In her hand was a small, silver, hand mirror that was scribed in various runes anchoring a complex enchantment in the frame. Unless I missed my guess, that was a Two-Way Mirror.

"I need you to find out anything you can about the owner of this mirror. My mother had one just like it when I was a little girl that she would use to talk to my Aunt Esme, her sister. Aunt Esme disappeared during a trip to visit friends in the Balkans and I'd like to know what happened to her. Aunt Esme's disappearance weighed heavily on my mother and it didn't help when she got sick." Explained Daphne.

I frowned at that. This couldn't be the same mirror, could it? That would be one hell of a coincidence if it was, almost too much of one. I mean, there was living out the plot of a series of books and then there was this. Unfortunately, I had given my word to a close friend that I'd look into it, so I would. That's all there was to it.

"All right, but you do know what the odds of this being the same mirror are, yes?" I questioned.

"Even if it's not the same mirror, just narrowing it down as not being the same Mirror will help immensely." Pleaded Daphne, a hint of separation creeping into her voice.

Well, now I had to help her out. I mean, I was going to before, but now I was going to try even harder. I found that I didn't like it when my friends were distressed like that. It was something new I learned about myself just now. I took hold of the Mirror and focused my Psychometric Powers, looking for owners.

Immediately, I was Catapulted to a remote mountain village in Romania. The Village was on fire and the flames appeared purple. A Platinum Blonde Woman with a definite family resemblance to Daphne was lying on the ground, dead at the feet of a dark-haired, bearded, man who was rummaging around in the Woman's pack. Around the burning village lay scores of dead wizards and squibs. I spotted a sign hanging off a burning building that said the name of the Village, Ascunsati. As the sign caught flame from the spreading purple fire, the Dark-Haired Man seemed to have stood up, pouch of coins and two-way mirror in his hands.

As his face came into the light, I could see his features clearly. His face was long and pale with twisted features, and his burly arms showed the Dark Mark. Blaise's Memories supplied a name, Antonin Dolohov, who Blaise's memories told me had escaped to the Continent after the fall of the Dark Lord and was eventually captured after three years on the run in the countryside outside Debrecen in Hungary.

Unwittingly, I flashed forward to his capture, witnessing several people, including Magnus Gamp and Mad-Eye Moody take on Dolohov, who killed a number of Aurors and wounded Moody before Magnus Gamp managed to conjure a bunch of pulsing vines that sprung up out of the ground and began fighting around Dolohov, restraining him. That allowed Magnus Gamp to hit Dolohov with an Expeliarmus that disarmed him.

"Gamp! I heard you were a teacher now! What did my present scare you off the Auror Force?" Spat Dolohov lying on the ground, bound by vines.

"I ought to kill you for what you did!" Growled Magnus Gamp.

"When I get free, I'll just escape and leave you another present! Perhaps the corpse of one of your students this time?" Sneered Dolohov.

Magnus Gamp leveled his wand at Antonin Dolohov, prepared to cast a curse that would put an end to him, only for Mad-Eye Moody to limp his way over and put his hand on Magnus Gamp's shoulder.

"Magnus! That isn't the way we do things!" Snapped Moody.

Magnus Gamp, nodded, lowering his wand. "Fine. He'll get his trial, then he'll get his time in Azkaban. If there's any justice in this world, the Dementors will kiss him as soon as he gets thrown in there!" Snarled Magnus Gamp.

"You should have killed me when you had the chance, Gamp! My Master will not leave me to rot in a fetid cell in the North Sea! I will be free one day, and when I am, I will come for you and anyone you have left! Count on it!" Promised Dolohov.

Then Magnus Gamp stunned him. Mad-Eye Moody grabbed the small pack that Dolohov had slung over one shoulder while Magnus Gamp produced a small, bronze, shipping token. Moody put one hand on Dolohov while Magnus Gamp put one on Moody, then in a flash of light, the Portkey whisked them back to London.

My vision flashed forward again to Moody visiting Dumbledore. Apparently, he'd been concerned that the pack that Dolohov had on him might have contained a cursed or dark artifact or two, but all they'd found were a few mixed coins, a self-playing harmonica, a spell ring that currently had an emergency Protego stored inside it, and the silver two-way mirror. Dumbledore shoved the items in a drawer and promptly forgot about them, and they ended up in the Room on the Seventh Floor.

Then I was shocked out of my vision, coming back to myself with an expectant Daphne looking at me curiously. I nodded to her and relief flooded her features. I almost didn't have the heart to tell her that her Aunt had been killed by a Notorious Death Eater, one of Voldemort's Inner Circle from the Last War, and one of the few who'd escaped capture for any length of time. I had to tell her, though. This whole thing was about closure, after all.

As I told her, her face scrunched up in a dark expression. When she finally spoke, her voice was as frosty as anyone I'd ever heard.

"Antonin Dolohov had better hope that whatever nonsense he was raving about being set free was indeed false. If he does somehow, miraculously, break out of Azkaban, I will hunt him down for what he has done to my family!" Swore Daphne.

"I'll help you do it, too." I offered.

"You don't need to do that. You've done more than enough to help me already by giving me and my family this closure." Frowned Daphne.

"It's no problem, Daphne. What are friends for? Besides, I'll be on his list as well. He did threaten to kill my Tutor's Students if he ever broke free, and that includes me." I pointed out.

"Fair. Allies and Friends, then?" Queried Daphne.

"Allies and Friends." I confirmed.

And just like that, Daphne and I seemed to be bound by more than mere friendship. We were on a quest together, one that might never be called into effect, but that knowing what I did about how Goblet of Fire ended, probably would. It certainly stretched my priorities out some. I not only had to save Harry Potter from Malfoy's Duel Trap and then leverage his debt to help me save Millie from the Trolls, but I also had to now somehow get strong enough to defeat one of the more powerful Death Eaters in a fight and figure out how to bring Daphne along for the ride as well. It was a lot to do, but I felt I was up to the challenge.

If I wasn't, I supposed I'd be dead and none of this would matter anyway. . .

XXXX

Over the course of the next week, I would continue my dueling training with Magnus Gamp, interspersed with lectures about various Defense Topics from the First Year Curriculum. He taught me Verdimillious Dua, Verdimillious Tria, and the Curse of the Bogies for practical spellwork, while also lecturing me on how to treat Werewolf Bites, how to deal with Imps, Ghosts, Hags, Vampires, and Gytrashes.

He also kept up my dueling practice. It was grueling work and he still kept putting me flat on my arse in every bout, but I was getting better with each bout. It was slow and incremental progress, but it was still progress. Unfortunately, he'd also taken to using stinging hexes as distractions, which I wasn't a fan of, but which also just meant that I'd have even more incentive to improve in order to avoid them.

Dumbledore did say he was from another time, and thankfully stinging hexes were a lot less dangerous than using a switch in terms of corporal punishment. It still seemed somewhat unprofessional for a teacher, but then so did a lot of the stuff that the Hogwarts staff did. Hell, my head of house liked to bully the Gryffindor Children for some reason.

Aside from those sessions, in Herbology, I learned how to care for Moly and how to use the plant to counter enchantments and bewitchments in herbology. It turned out, that Moly required partial shade to grow best, and enough water to be generous but not enough to completely drown the plants. Susan and I planted ours in the Greenhouse beneath the shade provided by a Wiggentree.

I once again found myself pa helping out other students once Susan and I had finished our own planting. Hannah and Ernie MacMillan almost overwatered their Moly flower and they would have if I hadn't pointed out what they were doing. That earned me another five points for Slytherin for a keen instinct for Herbology and a willingness to aid other students.

In Astronomy, meanwhile, we didn't learn about a ritual this week, instead, we were instructed on how to find various planets that were visible to our telescopes. Mars, Saturn, Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. This was to prepare for learning various rituals that required each of the planets to be in the night sky, which we'd learn about over the next couple of months leading up to the Christmas Holidays.

Of those, finding Uranus was the most difficult because it blended in with the background, you had to be able to calculate where it was supposed to appear in the night sky. I helped Hermione find it once I had, for a given value of help. Mostly, I think I was just spare brainpower for calculations. We still both earned five points for Slytherin and Ravenclaw.

Transfiguration was less practical this week, instead simply being about the Transfiguration Alphabet. It was a lot of rote memorization of letters and meanings, so nothing that I or anyone else needed help with. I supposed that it would be more useful once we could start taking Ancient Runes and Arithmancy.

I also continued my personal training, making more incremental improvement with Occlumency, Leglimency, and the Dead Moment. By the time that Saturday Night rolled around, I was prepared for the first meeting of the Cross-House Study Group. I'd be giving a presentation on the first steps to learning Occlumency, which everyone was looking forward to. Maybe a little too much, in fact.

After all, as it would turn out, our headcount would wind up being higher than expected by a lot. . .

XXXX

AN: So yeah, time-skippy chapter with just a bit of plot relevance in the middle. Realistically, guys like Dolohov or Bellatrix Lestrange should have been the cause of multiple origin stories, to use a superhero term. You don't have roving gangs of psychopaths like that and not have multiple people be affected by it.

So here, I have it that Dolohov is not only the Reason Magnus Gamp left the Auror Corps, but also managed to escape the initial Dragnet and hide out in the Balkan Mountains on the Continent for a few years, where he happened to come across Daphne's mother while slaughtering a remote village. He was captured maybe six months after that point by Magnus Gamp and Mad-Eye Moody, then swore to get revenge on Magnus Gamp if he ever got free by murdering his students.

That, effectively, gives Blaise a plot hook to do with Daphne, tying things up a neat little bow. Now, though, they have to get strong enough to actually survive an encounter with Dolohov. That's easier said than done, as I've beefed up the Death Eaters' Inner Circle for this story somewhat as compared to canon.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the first meeting of the Cross-House Study Group.

Stay tuned. . .